Intel Ultrabooks Prices May Drop to 10 Percent in Early 2012

Wednesday, November 30th, 2011 at 7:04 am , filed under Laptops by Paul

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Well, according to the reports from the Taiwan-based supply chain makers the Ultrabook makers Asustek, Acer, and Toshiba will lower their retail price tags this holiday season. On the other hand, Lenovo, Dell and Hewlett-Packard are ready to launch their own Ultrabooks this month.

Further the report note that a marketing subsidy from Intel might contribute to further price cuts in the range of 5 to 10 percent early next year. At the same time, Intel’s partners have had a tough time meeting the sub-$1,000 goal for their Ultrabook models.

According to sources, a 13-inch SSD-equipped Ultrabook has an expected bill of materials of $690. approximately $100 is OEM charges, while $150 for marketing and distribution, all together the total cost will be $940. The CPU, 128GB SSD and LCD panel cost $175-200, $140-150 and $45-50.

Earlier this year, Intel took the wraps off its Ultrabook design guidelines, where in the qualifying machines will be less than 20mm thick and the price tag will be less than $1,000.

Intel has allegedly lobbied PC makers for a 50 percent price cut on CPUs bound for Ultrabooks, in a try to compete with Apple’s MacBook Air pricing. The chip manufacturer instead opted to provide a 20 percent discount to first-tier notebook players.

Despite the fact that Intel is aiming for the specification to account for 40 percent of laptops by the end of next year, Ultrabook manufacturers have been cautious with their initial shipments. Asus and Acer are supposed to have slashed their Ultrabook orders by 40 percent because of unsatisfactory demand.

Prices are difficult obstacle for Ultrabook makers, noted by Research firm Canalys. The firm does notices that Ultrabooks turn out to be a vital segment of notebook sales over the next 5 years, however, meanwhile, Apple is likely to take the top spot among PC vendors if iPads are included in the figures.

By Paul

Tags: Acer, apple ipad, Apple's MacBook Air price, Asustek, CPUs bound for Ultrabooks, dell, Hewlett-Packard, Intel laptops, Intel Ultrabooks, Intel Ultrabooks less than $1000, Laptop prices, Lenovo, PC makers, PC vendors, Toshiba